An Unexpected Reunion
by Laurie 47
Summary: A semi-canon tale of Sirius and his lost love, who never really gave up on her criminal ex. Set during Order of the Pheonix. Written because my imagination was begging me to write it down.


I'm usually a "reading only" fan-fiction-ite, but this story was begging me to be written. It's set during OotP, and it's not completely cannon exactly (but it's almost believable if you tweak with a few minor details).

* * *

It was a dreary, rainy, night at Grimmauld Place. Sirius and Remus were the only ones home, and had imbibed a tad of gin, just to keep out the cold, of course. The alcohol and company led them on a trip down memory lane.

"I still can't believe Lily tricked us like that. We had thought she was such a sweet innocent girl. Oh, were we wrong," Sirius said with a fond smile.

"She would never have never been able to dupe the Marauders without help from her trusty sidekick." Remus regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Sirius's smile faded, along with the drunken sheen in his eyes.

"I wonder where she is now... If she still remembers me...," Sirius said, almost to himself. He closed his eyes, awash in memories of a better time.

It pained Remus to see his best friend in such a sad state. "Padfoot," he said with a sigh, "I've seen her."

Sirius snapped out of his reverie and was intently focused on Remus' words.

"I went to her, the day after... everything happened. At first she didn't believe me, and then she was inconsolable. She'd just lost two of her best friends and her fiancé had been hauled off to Azkaban for a mass murder. I checked in on her a lot over the next couple of weeks, making sure she didn't do anything drastic. Once she pulled herself together she decided she wanted to move. She convinced the ministry to transfer her to Brazil, to work for the ambassador. When the news broke of your escape, she came back. I was getting ready to leave for Hogwarts when she showed up at my doorstep. We've sparingly kept in touch over the past few years."

"And you waited to tell me this until now?" Sirius asked, a combination of angry and incredulous.

"I didn't mean to hurt you; I just didn't want you to risk breaking your cover to go find her. And I haven't told her about you either. If she had gone looking for you, it would have drawn more attention to you, which we didn't need."

Sirius fell to his knees at Remus' feet."But things are better now right? Please, Moony, tell me where she is. Please."

Remus sighed, reluctance etched in his every feature. "She lives in Warminster, about 200 km from here. She lives just off the road that heads northwest out of town." Sirius jumped up and bounded for the door.

"Sirius, wait!" Lupin jumped in front of his friend to block his exit. "She's spent the last 14 years thinking you were a murderer. You can't just expect to walk into open arms."

Sirius paused for a moment then started pacing, his marauder mind searching for a solution. He stopped, inspired with an answer, and spun on his heel to face Remus. "Do you still have that picture from Harry's birthday party?"

"Yeah..." Remus' face lit up with comprehension. "You're a genius, Padfoot."

He ran upstairs to grab the requested picture. When he dismounted the stairs on the way back down, Sirius was wandering aimlessly up and down the hall. His restless energy was almost infectious. He snatched the picture from Remus' hand, then turned towards the door. Remus grabbed him and spun him back around.

"Wait, Sirius. Please be careful. I know you love her, but it's not worth you dying, or worse, getting thrown back in Azkaban. You're all Harry has left. Be safe and take care of yourself."

"I will," Sirius promised, then ran out the door, changing into his canine form as he went.

* * *

Irina turned off the main road and down the winding gravel lane to her house. Other wizards might have teased her for not Apparating straight into her living room, but she enjoyed her daily stroll under the trees. It reminded her of living in the Amazon. It was such a beautiful afternoon, she spun around a few times out of sheer joy. Merlin, she must look like such an idiot. Oh, well, there's no one around to see-

She froze in her tracks as she spotted movement in the trees. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she originally thought. She crept closer to the tree line, only to find a stray dog hiding amongst the underbrush. As she went to move towards it, it spooked and scampered away. Strange, it looked kinda like... no, it couldn't be. Her mind was just playing tricks on her. She tried to shake it off and went inside.

* * *

Sirius had been sitting for hours. The lack of movement had made his legs a little stiff, but the thoughts that had been running circles through his mind disturbed him more than any physical discomfort. He saw her through the small kitchen window, cleaning up after dinner. It was now or never. He stood up on all four legs, shook his fur, and padded away towards her door.

* * *

That black dog had been out there all day; hidden, but not good enough. The thought that it really was her outlaw ex-fiancé in his Anamagius form grew stronger with every passing moment. She tried not to panic, but what to do when a convicted murderer was stalking you wasn't really something they covered in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She kept an eye on the dark form, trying not to be obvious, as the night grew darker.

As she was washing dishes, the barely distinguishable black shape started moving. _'Oh, Merlin, he's coming in the house!' _She was sure it was him now. He must have gotten to Remus. That traitor had already killed two of the Marauders, what was stopping him from torturing the third for information? She moved behind the kitchen door. Surprise might be the only advantage she had against over her criminal ex-lover.

She heard the clack of a dog's claws on the back porch, and turned off the lights. It was a very human hand that turned the knob and pushed the door open. She saw his outline in the moonlight coming in from outside, not too dissimilar from the man she had once known.

He took a few trepidatious steps into the room and ran his hand along the back of her kitchen chairs, the only furniture she had kept from their old house... Irina chose that moment to slam the door, flip the light switch, and jam her wand into his back.

"Take one more step and I'm cursing you into oblivion."

He chuckled and his shoulders relaxed. "Irina," he said with a small smile.

She shoved her wand further into his back. "How dare you laugh at me, Black! I'd love nothing more than to kill you right now. Please, just give me a reason to avenge James and Lily," she spat through clenched teeth.

Sirius tensed again. "Rina, I didn't give them over. Deep down, you know I didn't. You know I would never have hurt them. I'm innocent, you have to believe me."

She relaxed her stance just a little, part of her really wanted to believe him. Sirius used the moment to spin around and face her.

She could still remember when she saw the headline of the Daily Prophet the morning of November 1st. The man she loved couldn't have been responsible for that. It just couldn't be true. She didn't believe that James and Lily were dead until she stood in front of the wreckage in Godric's Hollow herself. She didn't believe that harmless little Peter had been murdered until Remus had taken her by the shoulders and screamed it at her.

'_Remus...'_

Her favorite werewolf was probably dead at the hands of the Azkaban escapee that stood in front of her. She regained her defensive stance, wand now pointed between eyes she desperately avoided. "Why should I? I wouldn't put lying past a murdering traitor."

Sirius could hear the pain and bitterness in her voice. If he ever crossed paths with Peter Pettigrew again, that mangy rat was going to die, if for nothing else than that look on her face. That bastard had stolen away his best friend, 12 years of his life, and now her too.

"I have proof. Just let me show it to you, then you can curse me to my grave, and I won't put up a fight."

Her wretched curiosity always got her into trouble.

"Alright." She kept her wand at the ready, just in case.

Sirius pulled a magical picture out of the pocket of his faded overcoat, and held it out to her. As soon as she saw it, she dropped her wand to grab it with both hands. On the left was Sirius, not the carefree boy she fell for, but the weathered and battered man who now stood in her kitchen. On the right was Lupin, looking exactly as he had when she'd seen him last, except for the smile that took years off his prematurely aging features. In between them, the two old friends had their arms around a laughing teenage boy whose face she recognized, even though she hadn't seen it in 14 years.

"Harry..." she whispered, running her thumb across the face of her best friend's orphan son.

"Exactly," Sirius said, stepping closer to her. "Would Harry have welcomed me at his birthday party, and taken a picture with me, if I were the man responsible for his parents' death? Would Remus have let me in the room if I had betrayed his best friend, and James as well? No, they would have killed me the second they saw me."

Irina lifted her head, her countenance brightening with new hope and relief.

"You're innocent..." she said softly.

"Yes! You understand!" Sirius said jubilantly, capturing her smiling face in his hands. He studied her eyes for a moment, then realized just how close they were. She was still so beautiful; he had missed her so much. Every nerve ending in his body screamed at him to kiss the living fire out of her. He slipped his hand behind her head and leaned in closer...

Then the logical part of his brain kicked in. She had just found out that her ex-fiancé, who she had thought was a murderer for the past 14 years, was really framed by his friend for the betrayal of his other friends. Kissing her now was probably moving too fast. Maybe, once she had a little time...

_'Wait...What?...no!'_ Irina's eyes flew open as she felt Sirius pull away. He had been so close, she could smell him, feel his breath on her skin... She had wanted that kiss so badly, and then he'd pulled away? It took everything she had not to pull him back to her.

"Let's sit down, let me tell you the whole story," Sirius said trying to diffuse the awkward situation. He pulled out a chair at her table. Irina shook her head to clear the Sirius-induced fog.

"Come on into the living room, it'll be more comfortable." She led him into the next room and sat sideways at one end of the couch, while Sirius sat at the other. He launched into his story.

"A few weeks before James' and Lily's death, I suggested that, as James' best friend it was too obvious that I was their Secret Keeper. Peter was all too willing to volunteer to take my place..."

* * *

About an hour later, Sirius had come around to finishing his tale. "I've been on the run for almost two years now. I can never go anywhere, with the Death Eaters and the Ministry both out for my life." He clenched his fists and looked away, obviously frustrated with his predicament. Irina scooted closer and put her hand on his knee.

"It won't be like this forever. You have to believe that," she tried to encourage him. He only nodded. Silence fell.

"What was it like? Azkaban?"

Sirius shivered, although his chills had nothing to do with the temperature in Irina's living room. "It was so cold..." His voice trailed off.

"I shouldn't have asked, I don't want you to have to relive those memories. I know they must be horrible," she said pulling her hand from his knee.

"No, I'm glad you asked. I've kept it all bottled up for too long," he said, grabbing both of her hands in his. "It was so hard to stay sane, but knowing that I was innocent helped." He looked into her eyes. "Along with the hope that you would be waiting for me if I ever got out."

"When I ran away, I tried to move on," Irina confessed, "but I just couldn't. As much as I tried, I couldn't get you out of my head." She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "I couldn't stop loving you." She crept closer to him. "I still love you."

"I still love you too, Irina." Sirius had to reign in the urge to kiss her again. He just couldn't, this was all moving too fast. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned further into his personal space.

_'Screw it.'_

He let go of all his worries, pulled her close, and set his lips against hers. Fourteen years of waiting and doubt were swept away in those few moments of long awaited contact. Rina took the kiss deeper, then crawled on top of him, taking their bodies from vertical to horizontal. Warning bells rang off in Sirius' head. He might have let some of his inhibitions go, but he knew he wasn't ready for _that_ step just yet. He tried to ignore the hurt look in here eyes when he pushed her away.

"Irina, I should go. I need to let Remus know I'm okay. He's probably worried to death, thinking I've been captured by Death Eaters or something." His excuse was lame and he knew it, but he had to escape her suffocating nearness.

"Oh, alright," she said weakly. "How is Remus, by the way? I haven't seen him since that last full moon." She got up and walked with him to the kitchen.

"Oh, fine."

Awkward silence ensued.

"I'll just go now," Sirius said, while reaching for the door.

"No, wait!" Irina ran to him and grabbed his arm. "Promise me you'll come back quickly. I just got you back in my life; I don't want to feel like I'm losing you so soon. Come back and stay with me for a while. Please"

Sirius looked into her worried face and knew he had no choice. "I will, I promise."

He gave her one last quick kiss and swept out the door.

* * *

Sirius trudged through the door at Gimmauld Place to see a curious Remus poking his head out of the kitchen.

"You're not dead," Remus said with a smile. "I take it things went well. Although I didn't expect you back so soon."

"She wanted me to stay," Sirius said, walking into the kitchen. Everything always seemed to happen in the kitchen in this house...

Remus sat down across the table. "Then what the hell are you doing here?"

"This is all just happening so fast. It's just...," Sirius struggled to find the right words. "She kissed me." He closed his eyes to revel in the memory. "But the she got a little carried away and... Remus, I haven't touched a woman since I kissed her goodbye 14 years ago. And I don't want something to happen that she'll end up regretting."

Remus sat back in his chair. "Let me get this straight. You've just been reunited with the love of your life. She invites you to stay at her house for what promises to be a night full of adventure, and you left?"

"Yeah, that just about sums it up," Sirius replied, burying his face in his hands.

"Padfoot, you're pathetic. First of all, Rina wouldn't care! She loves you. She once told me that one of the greatest memories of her life was when you kissed her in front of the entire school during our 7th year."

Sirius smiled at the memory and touched his face. He could still feel where she had slapped him...

"And, really, have you forgotten who you are? I know Azkaban changed you, but you're still Sirius Black, the handsome daredevil whom half of Hogwart's female population would have sold their soul to be snogged by. It hurts me to see what's become of you. How dare a man with such low self esteem call himself a Marauder! I'm almost glad James can't see you like this, he'd be disappointed."

That last sentence pushed Sirius out of his dreary mood. "I have been acting ridiculous, haven't I? I'm still a Marauder, Moony, and I'll prove it to you." He stood up defiantly.

"Damn right, you will! You're gonna head right over there and give her the night of her life. And I'd better not see your sorry ass back here for the rest of the night!"

Sirius scampered out the door like the little puppy he was, then leaned back in he door frame grinning, and asked, "You're not just trying to get me out of the way because you have your own 'night full of adventure' planned, are you?"

Remus shot him a murderous look. "Get out before I bite you."

Sirius took that as a yes.

* * *

The next morning, Remus awoke to the unmistakable sound of an owl's beak tapping on glass. Trying his best not to wake the sleeping Tonks, he rolled out of bed to see an owl he thought he might have seen before perched on his window sill. He opened the window and let the dark bird in, who promptly stuck out his leg. Remus pulled off the attached letter, and the owl immediately took off. Apparently he wasn't the only one who didn't want to be awake at this hour. He opened the letter to see that it had been written in a familiar hand. The one line it contained read:

_Thank you, Remus. For everything. -Irina_

He smiled, tossed the letter aside, and crawled back under the covers next to his favorite little Nymph.


End file.
